The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-28
THE FRENCH WOMAN.
Max O'Ren Draws = Charming and True
Picture of His Countrywomen-

Max O'Rem Draws = Charming and True
Picture of His Countrywomen.
Letter in Philadelphia Press
The French woman has genius for cookery,
and is thoroughly awake to the fact that it Is
good policy in married life that her hus-
band dimes well The politics of matrimony is
q science Unborn in our women Let French
woman be rich or poor-the mistress OF q man
sion IN the Champs Elysees. or of poor fifth
floor little fiat at Montmartre or Batignolles-
she has always the charm OF femlnaiity. Sne 10
always smart, always alert. and mas a Httie nut
terlng, busting way with her that Is oouno 70
keep awake your interest in all she does She
may be sometimes little affected. but she Is
never vulgar. On Sundays and holidays she
dresses still little more elegantly than usual,
but she never appears to be in Sunday clothes
The middle-class French woman Is lady ike. NOT
only in her dress but in her speech You VIII
never her loaded with cheap jewelry. this
great stamp of vulgaritv, and when she speaks
to you you cannot guess whether she Is the wife
of gentleman or of small tradesman.
have often heard French women called triv-
olous But this is the height of absurdlty. Ii
fryolity consists in trying remain young and
attractive as long as possible then the French
bourgeois is frivolous. If. again, frivolity con-
sists in making a home cheerful and gay. and
preventing husband from being absorbed by
the of business then she ia frivolous Ii
this woman were frivolous how could you ex-
plain the alteration for the mother which. even
to the lowest of the low, you find in French
children? How could this be unless she were the
example of all domestic vir.uess 1t a French
portant step in life without first consulting his
mother surely it must be that he recognizes
in her a wise guide It would be- no mere
naivete on my part to dwell longer on the ao-
surd charge of frivohty. Take now the shop
keeping classes. There you will see the wife
the active partner of her husband. Behold them
both the commercial traveller displays his
goods on the counter. She IS not mere house
keeper, with without wages; she Is partner.
not merely sleeping partner. This not only
enables her. if she happens to become widow,
81 = A hs,ztn until har hyCh
be independent and to bring up her children
She has not. to obtain her living on her hus-
bands death. to become a working house keeper
a nurse; she is the mistress of her own house
as before, and now the head of the firm.
You can not obtain perfect notion OF French
industry unless you pay visit to our peasantry.
tractive. She does not even attempt to look
Sun burnt, hale and hearty, behold her. dear En-
glish tourist that is the fortune of France She
does not wear fringes on her forehead, Will ad-
init, she does not wear f1ounces a second-h hand
skirt hat with flowers and feathers. and she
totally ignores one franc diamonds. She has
coarse serge gown on and simple snowy cap. She
is clean and tidy and the personlfcation of in
dustry. I do not doubt. however, that. thanks
to the blessings of gratutous and compulsory
education. the time will soon come when she will
want to initiate the ladies of the town in her
habits and dress, and that her sons will despse
tho dear land where they were born and will all
want to be clerks and swagger in town with high
stand-up collars, tight trousers and sticks
Thank goodness, this spectacle is not yet to be
seen in France.
This good, hard working, thrifty woman is the
backbone of the country. The amount of work
she get through is simply prooigious You
will always see her busy, either working in her
field selling the produce of her little farm in the
market place of the nearest town engaged
about her little household. She is not attract
i've, but she is the picture of health and content
ment Shares or bonds go up or down with
out disturbing her peace; she holds none. She
trusts her savings to nobody. Bankers, she
thinks, company directors and stock brokers
may be very respectable persona but when the
old stocking is swollen with fise-franc pieces she
rounds off her little family domain and buys an
other field. something she is quite sure to find in
it's place when she wakes in the morning
Let me give you example of her frugalty.
and allow me to take it from personal recol-
lection. My mother has housemaid who has
been with her twenty-five years. Not long ago,
while in France. took aside this old servant
II know how devoted you have been my
MOTHER said to her "You are not strong,
and | daresay you will rot wish to go into serv-
ice again. but make yourself easy about this.
If anything should happen to my mother. shall
see that you are comfortable for the rest OF your
life. But / said, inquirngly, II have
doubt you have something of your own by this
time2" Imagine my surprise when heard her
tell me she had saved over 10, 600 francs tbetween
So 900 and So. 000l all well invested, including
one SHARE in the Suez Canal Company.